OREM, Utah — Kaden Carpenter went 5-for-9 with two home runs, four extra-base hits and seven RBIs on Saturday to lead Utah Valley to a doubleheader sweep with victories of 11-3, and 7-2 over UC Riverside at UCCU Ballpark. Utah Valley (4-6) hit .300 as a team across the two games with 12 extra-base hits. The pitching staff limited UC Riverside (3-8) to a .185 batting average and 12 total hits on the day.
GAME 1
The Wolverines collected 11 hits and scored 11 runs in the opener as the first five hitters reached base in the bottom of the first inning. Carpenter doubled to left-center to drive in two runs,
Luke Iverson was hit by a pitch, and
Mason Hamlin walked.
Mason Strong followed with a single before
Brody Block capped the five-run inning with his first home run of the season.
Utah Valley extended the lead to 6-1 in the second when Iverson hit his second homer of the year over the right-field wall to provide early support for starter
Quinn Holt. The Keystone College transfer worked five innings in his home debut, allowing two hits — a solo homer to Manoah Chapman in the second and a double to Jaxon Byrd.
Holt worked out of trouble in the fourth, striking out Evan Chavez to end the inning. The Wolverines' offense responded in the bottom half as
DJ Massey walked and advanced two bases on back-to-back wild pitches. Iverson doubled to right field to drive in his second run of the game and make it 8-1. Carpenter followed with a single to left-center, and Strong doubled to right-center to extend the lead to 10-1.
Aaron Rice pitched the final three innings to earn his first save of the season. He retired UC Riverside in order twice and allowed only one hit in the eighth inning.
Carpenter finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs in the opener. Iverson passed former teammate
Cole Jordan for seventh on the program's career home run list with the 25th homer of his career and now needs one more to tie
Nate Bach for sixth. Five different Wolverines recorded extra-base hits in the game.
GAME 2
Utah Valley's offense continued in the nightcap, led again by Carpenter, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored, and four RBIs.
Starter
Garrett Miller logged a career-high five innings for the Wolverines and set the tone early. UC Riverside took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a sacrifice fly. Carpenter tied the game in the fourth with an opposite-field home run. Utah Valley then took a 2-1 lead when
Derek Houston doubled down the third-base line and later scored on a groundout by Block.
Miller delivered a shutdown fifth inning on seven pitches.
Cooper Brass doubled to open the inning, and after a two-out walk to Hamlin, Carpenter hit his second home run of the game — and third of the season — over the left-field fence to extend the lead to 5-1.
The bullpen took over in the seventh as
Trey Jacobsen pitched two innings of relief, striking out four and allowing only one walk. He recorded two strikeouts and a pop-up in the seventh and added two more strikeouts in the eighth.
Utah Valley added two runs in the eighth when Carpenter doubled, and
Chipper Beck followed with a two-run homer to left field to make it 7-1.
Cooper Littledike recorded the final two outs in his 2026 home debut while recording the final three outs.
UP NEXT
Utah Valley and UC Riverside wrap up the four-game series on Sunday, Mar. 1, with a 12:05 p.m. MT first pitch. The game will be on ESPN+ and on the radio on 103.9 & 98.3 ESPN The Fan.
